Bling Bling, Baby
Today we’re giving Darius a touch of urban cool as we bling him up in designer gear. He strips off in the changing room and all the SH girls crane their necks to get a good look at his bronzed torso (which is very nice, by the way).

His outfits today are a far cry from the slick suits we’re used to seeing him in on the telly. Ok, so he’s wearing ‘comedy’ banana print boxer shorts underneath, but some girls think they’re sexy, right? “I love these clothes. They’re the sort of thing I wear when I go out,” he says. “Labels like G-Star and Paul Smith, battered-up jeans…I’m used to being a poor student so I’m happy to mix and match designer and high street stuff. It’s not always about what you wear, it’s how you wear it.” Work that attitude, D!

Despite having been called arrogant, cocky and, erm, cheesy (‘my favourite type of cheese? There’s nothing quite like Cheddar on toast, with Worcestershire sauce’), the phenomenon that is Darius is still coming to terms with his fame. In the last two years he’s turned his life around, transforming himself from a national laughing stock to the confident pop star that’s here today, sticking his tongue out at Simon Cowell along the way.

“I was naïve when I first came on the scene. They made me look like the tragic hero and the villain all in one on Popstars,” he says. “But on Pop Idol I had the chance to be myself. I cut my hair off and it felt like I wasn’t hiding any more. People thought I was arrogant but I was really determined. After all, I was crazy enough to go back for seconds, wasn’t I?”

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Must Be the Music
As for having a platinum album before he’s 35, well, he’s been there, done that and featured on the official T-shirt! “The Pop Idol album has gone platinum,” he says proudly. “So I’ve lived up to one of my promises already. Maybe I’ll do it on my own one day. Right now my only goals are to make music and be happy.” As far as his former Pop Idol mates go, Darius isn’t giving much gossip away. But he will reveal that Gareth does have bad hair days! “Annoyingly, he looks good with dishevelled hair too,” Darius grins. “I’ve never touched his spikes though. My hand would probably get stuck.”

As he dances around to the sounds of his favourite old skool house CD, we can tell Darius is a bit of a party boy on the sly. “I work hard and I play hard, heh heh!” he chuckles. “I’ve had wild nights out which have turned into days and I’ve done the club circuit in Ayia Napa with my friend Simon, who DJs with all the superstar DJs.”

So he’s no stranger to the dance music scene, but does Darius have any special dance moves prepared for future performances? “What, you mean, like my Tom Jones-style hip swing?” Erm, no. We’re referring to your …Baby One More Time hand-clappin’, finger-clickin’, shoulder shrugging shimmy!

“Ah! Now that was inspired. Listen,” he laughs, “It was right at the time, but it’s like when you say something stupid and think, “Did I just say that out loud?” We know the feeling.

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Gotta Love The Laydeez
Fame might be hard to get used to, but one thing Darius has had no problem with since his success is the female attention – which he gets in truck-loads. And like any red-blooded single male, he’s not exactly upset about it!

Getting comfortable, he fixes his piercing eyes on us. “Put it this way, being on TV hasn’t hurt my love life,” he grins, “And have any celebrity stunners caught his eye lately? “Well,” his voice drops to a whisper, “I have to admit, the celebrity girls that I’ve met so far have been a bit disappointing. I met one who was really stuck up and thought the world revolved around her. I was like, ‘Get over yourself!’” This is definitely one guy that hasn’t been fazed by fame. But we can’t believe there are no pop lovelies he would snog…
The S Club 7 girls: would you?
“They’re gorgeous, I’d date any of them but I think they’ve all got boyfriends haven’t they?”
Nope. Looks like it’s Tina’s lucky day! And how about the lovely J.Lo?
“Oh no, she would be a nightmare. She comes into the room with an entourage, right? Wouldn’t I have to repaint my house for her or something?”
Christina Aguilera?
Beautiful, but too preened. And too skinny – I don’t like that.”

Looks like this isn’t an easy boy to please! “That’s not true. There are a lot of girls I’d like to meet. Actually I’d really like to meet Britney to say sorry!” He laughs and absent-mindedly plays with his silver bracelet.

“But I’d much rather go out with someone normal,” he adds. “And I’d definitely go out with a fan. (Hurrah! – Ed) I think most famous people are abnormal – me included!” Form an orderly queue, please, girls!

He continues, “I like the girl-next-door look. And I love hair that’s just been washed and blow-dried. Clean hair and a touch of lip salve – bad-a-bing!”

 

So what would a single girl have to do to pull the elusive Darius Danesh? “I like the subtle approach,” he says. “All it takes to let someone know you like them is a smile or a little look.” Eh? The Smash Hits girls have been trying that all day, but it hasn’t worked so far.

“But sometimes the direct approach is good,” he adds. “It shows that the girl is nice and confident.” Aha! We make a mental note to try the “D’you come here often?” line on him over lunch.

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On The Lash
As we take time out for some food, Darius wanders around the house, offering to make cups of tea and chatting to everyone as if he’s known them for years. He’s brought his guitar and launches into an acoustic version of Colourblind (swoon) with our talented photographer stepping in as his backing singer.

During lunch, we learn more things about him. Firstly he spends at least five minutes brushing his teeth after every meal. Secondly, he performed in a school production of Oliver with his flies open (he was commando at the time!), and finally, he was once mistaken for Boyzone’s Keith Duffy by every photographer in London.

“It was way before Popstars and I was at a James Bond premiere, on a date,” he explains, as we find another comfy corner to continue our chat. “The photographers were shouting, ‘Keith! Oi, Keith, give us a smile, mate!’ I just kept my head down and ran inside. I don’t look like him, do I?” Erm, no, but the ponytail probably didn’t help.

Not surprisingly, the conversation soon reverts back to girls (“I’ve had a lot of experience.”) Darius has had six serious girlfriends so far and he’s still good friends with all of them. No kiss-and-tells on the horizon for this pop boy, then! In fact, he’s much more of an old romantic than a sex-crazed Casanova who’ll take advantage of his fame.

“The most romantic thing I’ve ever done for someone? Well…” He shifts in his chair and goes a little pink. “When I was 14, all my mates took the mickey out of me because I had long eyelashes. I was seeing this girl and one of them told me that she secretly hated them – so I cut them all off!” He starts laughing and shakes his head. “My mum freaked at me! And when I went into school the next day, my girlfriend was distraught. She said, ‘Oh Darius, what have you done? I loved your eyelashes!’ My mates thought it was hilarious.

I’d cut the eyelashes into a newspaper which had been thrown in the dustbin. So I ended up going through the smelly old bins on my hands and knees until I found my eyelashes again. I tipped them into a card and sent them to her. She cried when she got them.” Tears of happiness, we hope! What a softie – this is the kind of guy you could take home to meet your mum.

It is getting dark outside and we’ve finished all our photos for the day. Darius, good-humoured as ever, busies himself singing autographs for the SH team, our mums and our mates. He’s happy to carry on long after his cab arrives, writing a personal note on each picture. Gorgeous, polite and friendly: he’s pretty much the perfect pop star. He might already be a household name, but this is just the beginning for Big D.

 

Private Parts – Darius shows us what’s in his bag

1. Washbag
“I always carry this because sometimes I have to crash at the studio or a hotel. I’ve got a toothbrush, Virgin Vie for Men deodorant, Laborotoire Garnier Stop Signs moisturiser, Tigi conditioner and some of this amazing energy serum which you massage into your scalp to wake you up.”

2. CD Player
“I’m always listening to different sounds. I’ve got Marvin Gaye – gotta love Jmarvin! – Madonna, Basement Jaxx, the Kisstory album, the Romeo And Juliette soundtrack, Robbie – I love Robbie – and N*E*R*D”

3. Magazines
“In the studio we subscribe to The Face and Smash Hits. But I like to read mens’ mags like FHM as well.”

4. My Diary
“I keep sheets of lyrics and ideas for songs in here – I pull it out and write them down when I’m feeling inspired. I’m writing a ballad called Girl In The Moon at the moment, and another really upbeat song which is very dancey.”

5. Spare Mobile Phone
“Well, you never know when something might go wrong with mine. I can’t be incommunicado!”

6. Passport
“I carry it around because I never know when I’m going to have to jump on a plane. Everyone always looks at my passport picture – I was 15 with floppy hair.”

7. A Marker Pen
“I always carry one of these around for signing autographs – I’m getting used to it now!”

 

Darius: The Story So Far

August 19 1980
Darius Danesh is born with a fine pair of lungs. “As a baby, I used to hum myself to sleep – at first my parents thought there was something wrong with me, but then they realised I was just singing.”

Aged 1
“I had one of those baby bouncers that was attached to the door frame. Apparently I could bounce up to my dad’s eye level. I must have had bionic calf muscles from a very early age.” Ahhhh!

Aged 2
“I used to love feeding my dad grapes. I would put as many in his mouth as I could before he started chewing. Once, I smacked his cheeks together – he choked and almost died! I was a rebel!”

Aged 3
Darius poses in his lumberjack shirt with brother, Aria. “I like to think I was ahead of my time, style-wise. Me and Aria’s favourite cartoon was Thundercats. I was Panthera and he was Liono.”

Aged 5
“I started school and was fascinated by musical instruments, like the piano and the recorder. My best mate was an 8-year –old girl. Well, I was into older women!”

Aged 7
Daz buys his first single: Michael Jackson’s Dirty Diana. From this picture we can see that he was a gentleman from an early age. But what’s with the posh coat and tie? “We were going to a wedding. My mum gelled my hair and I hated it,” he smiles. “My brother nicked the umbrella off me and beat me up with it later.”

Aged 11
Darius teaches himself how to play the guitar

Aged 14
He writes his first song. “It was for a girl I fancied at school and, at the end of the year, I played it to her. It was so embarrassing! She gave me a kiss on the cheek and I almost passed out

Aged 14 ¾
Darius wears dungarees – a lot. And, more importantly, had his first snog! “It was at a disco at the local football culb. We were in the corner of the room and Everybody Dnce Now was playing in the background. The dry ice was swirling around our feet. (sounds magical – Ed) She was two years older than me and I ended up going out with her! In my younger years I sought the guidance of older women!”

Aged 15
Judging by this photo, we can only deduce that D has reached that awkward age, fashion-wise. He starts getting into rugby and wears Converse All Star trainers which he wishes he had kept, because they’re quite trendy now. Strike a pose, Darius! “We were at Loch Ness with my American cousins in this picture,” he says, “We went on the hunt for the monster, but sadly never found it.”

Aged 16
“I had to do army training for school and they shaved my hair off. So when I came out of school I rebelled and didn’t cut it for three years, hence the ponytail. That was my biggest fashion mistake ever.”

Aged 17
Darius goes to college and does music A level. “But my school wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer or something. I got an A though.” He goes on to do English Literature at Edinburgh Uni.

Aged 19
The polite young gentleman enters Popstars looking gorgeous, if a little dodgy. What made him audition? “A mate egged me on,” he says. “I’d finished my second year of Uni and I didn’t know if I wanted to be in a pop band. He said, ‘But there’ll be a lot of fit girls there!’ So, I went to the audition. You know the rest.” We certainly do!

Aged 22
It’s 2002 and Darius makes it big with a £1 million record deal and the release of his debut single, Colourblind. “My dreams came true. My pop music producer idol Steve signed me to Mercury Records. He had been in America and knew nothing about Pop Idol – which means he signed me on the basis of the way my music sounds. It’s all really, really cool.” But will he make it in the fickle world of Planet Pop? We think so!